Sr. Azure Devops

Role Overview

The Azure Containers Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a senior technical expert specializing in containerized platforms and modern application ecosystems on Azure. The role focuses on enabling container readiness, validating target environments, supporting engineering teams during implementation, and ensuring smooth transition of containerized workloads across Azure services such as Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Apps (ACA), and related cloud-native components. The SME works closely with architects, DevOps engineers, and application teams to ensure secure, reliable, and scalable container landing zones.

Key Responsibilities

Container Platform Expertise

Provide deep technical guidance on AKS, Azure Container Apps, Azure Container Registry (ACR), and related Azure container ecosystem services.

Perform cluster validation, configuration reviews, workload readiness assessments, and environment hardening.

Support setup of AKS add-ons, monitoring, ingress controllers, node pools, autoscaling, and network modes.

Guide teams on image management, registry policies, and secure CI / CD integrations.

Workload Transition & Modernization

Assist in containerizing workloads when needed (basic refactoring guidance, Dockerfile optimization).

Provide best practices for preparing applications for Kubernetes or Container Apps.

Support application and DevOps teams during workload deployment, cutover, and post-deployment validation.

Evaluate dependencies such as config stores, secrets, persistent storage, messaging endpoints, and service mesh integrations.

Networking & Security

Configure and validate AKS / ACA networking models (Azure CNI, kubenet, private clusters, VNET integrations).

Implement network policies, ingress / egress configurations, and service connectivity patterns.

Ensure secure container governance (RBAC, Azure AD integration, pod security standards, and secret management).

Operational Excellence

Troubleshoot AKS clusters, node pools, deployments, scaling, and runtime issues.

Implement observability using Azure Monitor, Container Insights, Prometheus / Grafana, and logging frameworks.

Create and maintain runbooks and checklists for container platform lifecycle management.

Collaboration & Enablement

Work closely with architects, DevOps teams, and application owners to translate requirements into container-native implementations.

Participate in technical reviews, readiness sessions, and environment planning discussions.

Mentor engineers and guide teams on Kubernetes fundamentals and cloud-native best practices.

Contribute to continuous improvements in automation templates and deployment frameworks.

Required Skills & Experience

12+ years of IT experience with at least 3-5 years working on Kubernetes or container platforms.

Hands-on experience with :

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Azure Container Apps (ACA)

Azure Container Registry (ACR)

Kubernetes deployments, ingress, autoscaling, operators, secrets, config maps

Strong understanding of container networking, load balancing, ingress controllers (NGINX, AGIC), and service mesh concepts.

Experience with CI / CD pipelines (Azure DevOps or GitHub YAML workflows, artifact packaging, and image scanning).

Knowledge of Linux fundamentals, Docker, Helm charts, and IaC (Terraform / Bicep).

Preferred Qualifications

Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS).

Azure certifications (AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-700, AZ-400).

Experience with distributed tracing (OpenTelemetry, Dapr) or service mesh (Istio / Linkerd).

Prior experience in container operations or modernization programs.

Ability to create high-quality technical documentation and enablement assets.